spider

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
spider/ˈspʌɪdə(r)/

▶noun

• 1 an eight-legged predatory arachnid with an unsegmented body consisting of a fused head and thorax and a rounded abdomen, most kinds of which spin webs in which to capture insects. [Order Araneae.]

  ■ used in names of other arachnids, e.g. sea spider.

• 2 a long-legged rest for a billiard cue that can be placed over a ball without touching it.

• 3 Brit. a set of radiating elastic ties used to hold a load in place on a vehicle.

• 4 Computing another term for crawler (sense 2).

▶verb

• 1 move in a scuttling manner.

• 2 form a pattern suggestive of a spider or its web.

– derivatives
spiderish adjective.

– origin OE spīthra, from spinnan (see spin).